Blunkett sets hopes on new hatred ban

RELIGIOUS
EXTREMISTS — “from far-right Evangelical Christians to extremists in the
Islamic faith” — are a scourge of modern society, the Home Secretary, David
Blunkett, said this week.

Mr Blunkett
hopes to revive his plans to introduce a law banning incitement to religious
hatred.

“We have to
face down extremism and racism in all its forms if we are to produce a
positive, inclusive sense of British identity,” he told a conference on racial
equality and community cohesion in London on
Wednesday.

“We tried
unsuccessfully to introduce an offence of incitement to religious hatred in the
aftermath of the 11 September attacks, but I hope we will now have the
parliamentary backing to put this in law,” he said.

“I am very
clear that some of the noisiest and most high-profile political and religious
extremists in this country have no mandate to speak for the communities they
claim to represent, and evoke a reaction which plays into the hands of
racists,” he said.

The
Government was consulting “on whether we need to extend the protection against
religious discrimination”.

Mr
Blunkett’s last attempt to introduce a law against incitement to religious
hatred was twice voted down by the House of Lords.

The
Chancellor, Gordon Brown, told a meeting of the British Council on Wednesday
that British identity was rooted in a passion for liberty, anchored in a sense
of duty and an intrinsic commitment to tolerance and fair play.

Forum
proposed. The time is right for a national forum where Christians and Muslims
can meet to share views, the Archbishop of Canterbury has been told.

The Bishop
of Aston, the Rt Revd John Austin, who chaired a group that reported the
results of a listening exercise, said that the new forum was “necessary, timely
and increasingly urgent”.

The Bishop
of Bolton, the Rt Revd David Gillett, is now to chair a group from both faiths
which will work to implement the proposals.

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